Welcome to the Shroomery Message Board! You are experiencing a small sample of what the site has to offer. Please login or register to post messages and view our exclusive members-only content. You'll gain access to additional forums, file attachments, board customizations, encrypted private messages, and much more!

the problem dealing with most people, is their stubborness. or maybe just their closed mindedness. this includes but is not excluded to: atheists (the worst, because they claim open mindedness, but are closed to anything that isn't atheism in most cases. IN MOST CASES. you never hear them say: "oh, you're religious? that's cool, tell me, how's that workin' for you? me i didn't like it." if you wanna hear what they DO say, refer to posts on the shroomery.) agnostics, freethinkers, christian rationalists, humanists, protestants, catholics, rastafari, buddhists, muslims, taoists...

how can a human being receive advice, instruction and help if he believes that he knows and can do everything and needs no directions? through such a wall of self satisfaction no gleam of light can penetrate.we must empty ourselves, therefore, of the immoderately high faith we have in ourselves. often it is so deeply rooted in us that we do not see how it rules over our heart. it is precisely our egotism, our self-centredness and self-love that cause all our difficulties, our lack of freedom in suffering, our disappointments and our anguish of soul and body.take a look at yourself, and see how bound you are by your desire to humor yourself and only yourself. your freedom is curbed by the restraining bonds of self-love, and thus you wander, a captive corpse, from morning till evening. "now i will eat," "now i will get up," "now i will read the paper." thus you are led from moment to moment in your halter of preoccupation with self, and kindled instantly to displeasure, impatience or anger if an obstacle intervenes.if you look into the depths or your consciousness you meet the same sight. you recognize it readily by the unpleasant feeling you have when someone contradicts you. thus we live in thraldom.how can any good come out of such an orbiting around the ego? opening your mind has nothing to do with religion or a lack thereof. opening your mind has everything to do with learning to accept and love all. by saying that religious ones are closed minded, you are in turn being closed minded. by saying that the atheistic ones are closed minded, you are in turn being closed minded. try not to even think about religion...just get up off yourself. help someone else. and shutup for two minutes and feel something other than you.

A mind is nothing at all like a parachute. Why would you compare the two?

the problem dealing with most people, is their stubborness. or maybe just their closed mindedness. Only an ego has trouble dealing with another ego.

atheists (the worst, because they claim open mindedness, but are closed to anything that isn't atheism)The term atheist refers to a lack of belief in a supreme deity and says nothing about a mind state. The worst? Surely you are joking! Most atheists were brought up in a religious setting and questioned the core beliefs. When confronted with terminal hypocracy by believers and a lack of underlying substance, they adopted a different stance. The ability to change one's position is indicative of an open mind.

IN MOST CASES. Sorry, you don't know about most cases.

you never hear them say: "oh, you're religious? that's cool, tell me, how's that workin' for you? me i didn't like it." if you wanna hear what they DO say...Stop the chest thumping and moral superiority and state your case without pretending to know the hearts and minds of others.

how can a human being receive advice, instruction and help if he believes that he knows and can do everything and needs no directions? through such a wall of self satisfaction no gleam of light can penetrate.This holds true for believer and non-believer alike. However, as believers generally have much more energy invested in their stance, they are even less likely to question core beliefs.

take a look at yourself, and see how bound you are by your desire to humor yourself and only yourself. Once again, why don't you speak of yourself instead of pointing to others "out there"? Are you an example of one who has broken these bonds?

"now i will eat," A basic desire for survival is now something to feel guilty about? Only the religious mind can try to make one feel guilty about basic animal needs such as food and sex.

"now i will get up," "now i will read the paper." It is quite difficult for me to will you to get up and read the papaer.

thus you are led from moment to moment in your halter of preoccupation with self, and kindled instantly to displeasure, impatience or anger if an obstacle intervenes.You have mastered your emotions? Or is this just more judgement?

thus we live in thraldom.10,000 Quuatloos on the Newcomer! (Star Trek reference...)

how can any good come out of such an orbiting around the ego? Survival is our prime directive. It is difficult to help others if our own lives are a mess, so that is where we must start.

opening your mind has everything to do with learning to accept and love all. Not by the accepted defintion.

by saying that the atheistic ones are closed minded, you are in turn being closed minded. But in your opening statement... ah - nevermind!

help someone else.Compassion is noble, but is not related to the acceptance of new ideas.

I agree with alot of what you say... I know what you mean about egotism and self-centeredness controlling us. To me it's like my body being on auto-pilot. I get angered and frustrated easily, have problems dealing with the annoyances of others, and basically feel like I'm trapped in a dream when my ego has full control over me. This mostly happens right after I wake up. Ever wake up and feel especially ill-prepared to deal with the world? But after awhile of staying awake, I can achieve a state of inner peace, where I am able to deal with things in a much more productive manner. Sorry if I strayed off topic...

swami my friend, the above post applies to me as well. no reason to think i was pointing at everyone else. i just figured it was an accepted fact that i was talking about myself as well as others.and about the athiest thing...come man, i am speaking from experience, and i haven't experienced all...but as a whole from toronto to vancouver, from dallas to new york, from africa to germany...everywhere i've been i've found the same mind set. now there are certain instances (like your esteemed self) where an atheist is a pretty cool dude.and no man, i don't preach at people about my religion, you ever heard me say you are wrong for what you believe braa? or just say i disagree. i believe it's the latter, man. i just preach at people not to preach to hard and be like, rude and shit. ya know, man? peace.

the problem dealing with most people, is their stubborness. or maybe just their closed mindedness. this includes but is not excluded to: atheists (the worst, because they claim open mindedness, but are closed to anything that isn't atheism in most cases. IN MOST CASES. you never hear them say: "oh, you're religious? that's cool, tell me, how's that workin' for you? me i didn't like it." if you wanna hear what they DO say, refer to posts on the shroomery.) agnostics, freethinkers, christian rationalists, humanists, protestants, catholics, rastafari, buddhists, muslims, taoists...

Anyone who believes that his beliefs are correct (um.. everybody?) can claim that anyone who disagrees is closed-minded. I do my very best to listen and consider what someone has to say because this has proven to be a valuable technique for learning and making friends.

To me, after having read your post, it seems like your mind is closed to the possibility that the majority of us are not "led from moment to moment in (our) halter of preoccupation with self, and kindled instantly to displeasure, impatience or anger if an obstacle intervenes" like you suggest. Please consider that possibility.

I am an atheist and I am not closed to anything that isn't atheism. I don't think I am an exception in this respect.

...and shutup for two minutes and feel something other than you.

Humans generally have a desire to be heard that outweighs their desire to listen. This is reality, like it or not. It will never be changed by holier-than-thou sermons.

Personally, I have found that love and acceptance of the world in its entirety makes me happy and productive and makes life generally trouble-free. I would recommend it to anybody. Unfortunately this philosophy conflicts with innate biological tendencies, and is difficult for most people, including myself, to get used to.

Everyone thinks their mind is open.

--------------------

Welcome evermore to gods and men is the self-helping man. For him all doors are flung wide: him all tongues greet, all honors crown, all eyes follow with desire. Our love goes out to him and embraces him, because he did not need it.

well, it's a good thing you read my response to swami...i'm not exempting myself from what i typed at all. i typed it for people in general. why is it that if i type something, everybody thinks i'm talking about everybody but myself? pretty self-centered. proving my point?To me, after having read your post, it seems like your mind is closed to the possibility that the majority of us are not "led from moment to moment in (our) halter of preoccupation with self, and kindled instantly to displeasure, impatience or anger if an obstacle intervenes" like you suggest. Please consider that possibility.well, if that doesn't apply to you, then you have no need to get offended. it does apply to some people doesn't it? if you get offended at something or simply irked by something, then obviously you struggle with that problem yourself. me, i struggle with closed mindedness constanly. could that possibly be one of the reasons i would post something about how closed mindedness is wrong? because i struggle with it? i also grow stagnant...going from day to day just living my life...with practically no purpose...it happens to the best of us.

people have problems with closed mindedness. period. some people just have more insight and self control than others and don't let it spurt out in fountain like gushes towards those who happen to believe different than them.but if ten people are in a trap, and one figures a way out and says, "hey guys, this could be a way out." do the others say, "oh no, speak for yourself, YOU are in the trap too, so you have no right to tell us WE'RE in the trap. you HYPOCRITE."lol...geez. peace.

well, if that doesn't apply to you, then you have no need to get offended.

Who got offended?

why is it that if i type something, everybody thinks i'm talking about everybody but myself? pretty self-centered. proving my point?

Swami answered that one quite well.

--------------------

Welcome evermore to gods and men is the self-helping man. For him all doors are flung wide: him all tongues greet, all honors crown, all eyes follow with desire. Our love goes out to him and embraces him, because he did not need it.